Showing posts with label translucent color. Show all posts
Showing posts with label translucent color. Show all posts

Friday, April 3, 2009

Glazes


Strolling Along
5x7

You may recognize the above composition from a painting I posted two weeks ago.  In this little painting I used the transparent process using very bright, warm colors.  It didn't start out that way.  

Using the glazing process requires that the painting is completely dry before applying another layer of color.  That's the hard part for me.  Waiting for the paints to dry.  Sometimes it only takes a day.  Other times, depending how thick the underlayers are, it may take up to three days.  The beauty of this process is that the viewer can see two vibrating colors at one time.  Glazing a thin layer of say, orange, over an underlayer of blue gives a particular glow.  That's why I'm moving away from the alla prima process to this painstakingly, long process.  I love the results.  Too bad I'm not a patient person!

Okay, now I have a confession to make.  (It's so embarrassing)  I don't know how to upload, or copy and paste (whatever) two badges I've received lately.  My twentysomethings are in and out of the house like whirlwinds, so I forgot to ask them how to do it.  I was very honored to receive a Lemonade award from Kathleen Krucoff and a Passion for Painting award from Trish Siegel.  I don't want to seem like an ingrate, so can anyone give me some tech advice?   I'm such a right brainer.  No wonder I have bad technology days.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Last Light, Low Light


Last Light
16x20

This painting has been on and off my easel for the last two weeks.  Every time I think I'm done with it, I change my mind.  I actually signed it yesterday.  I think I just wanted to stop the questioning.  

The odd thing about this painting is that it looks good from a distance.  But if I stand close to it and really observe all the details, the doubts come flooding in.  One evening I was talking about this painting with my husband.  I usually talk to him about things like this when I simply can't gain perspective.  It's amazing what he comes up with from his non-artistic background.  He said, "It should be hung in a place where there's low light".  

I think he's right.  Shouldn't the lighting be taken into consideration when hanging certain paintings?  

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Playing Tag

Solitary Path
5x7

This is another one of the many studies I've done using transparent colors.  It's unfinished and I intend to leave it like that because it's merely a stepping stone for learning.  The sky is laid in with hansa yellow light.  After drying completely, I used a glaze of Indian yellow to give a glow.  It's amazing what using transparent colors can do if one is patient enough to allow the drying process before putting another glaze on top.  (I use Liquin original with the paint as a medium.)  I do have problems with being too impatient for the drying process sometimes, though.  So I've learned to start several small studies at some time.  That way, I'm always busy.

Onto the title of this post.  I've been tagged by Karen Phipps!  It's an honor for me to be tagged by her as she's one of my very favorite artist bloggers.  Karen is a true artist, heart and soul.  Just visit her blog, if you haven't already, and you'll see what I mean.  She gives wonderful insight into the creation of her paintings with the hows and whys.  And she does plenty of plein air work no matter what time of year.  Even in the middle of our Chicago winters!  

The rules of tagging are as follows:

1.  Put a link in your post about the artist that tagged you.
2.  Write 5-7 unusual things about yourself.
3.  Tag 5-7 other bloggers and let them know.

There are so many wonderful bloggers I've had the pleasure to read about and view their work.  Some of the following are the ones I'm tagging:

Laura Wambsagans does sensitive landscapes and portrait work.

Faye Christian Phillips uses joyful colors and compositions.  Also inspirational poetry and prose.

Maggie Latham is a multi-media artist whose paintings simply glow.

Judith Reidy just had an article published about her mist paintings.

Fabio Cembranelli from Brazil has beautiful watercolors.

I'll be posting my "interesting facts"  next time.  In the meantime, I can't wait to see what Karen has to say!






Monday, February 9, 2009

Autumn

Autumn 
9x12

This is a study that, I must admit, came from somewhere in my imagination.  It was done purely as a way to learn more about the transparency process.  I learn from every one of these paintings.  And to make sure I retain what I learn, I take detailed notes.  Hopefully, I'll be able to create larger paintings soon.  But for right now, there's more to figure out.

I start by building the bones of the painting with dark transparent colors, then allow them to dry.  The trick is to not do this too dark, because successive colors will darken the initial colors.  For the sky I used transparent sienna mixed with white.  After drying, I glazed over it with sienna.  In the background field, transparent colors were used, but when they dried completely, I also glazed over with a bit of white and transparent sienna to cause recession of space.

There are times when I feel I'm wasting my time with the pursuit of going off in a whole different direction.  I feel like going back to what was a comfortable painting process for me.  But other times, I know I'm on the right track.  Being an artist means having difficult, frustrating times too.  





Monday, February 2, 2009

Lincoln Marsh

Lincoln Marsh
9x12

This small study is from a photograph I took last August.  My daughter and I decided to go on a photo-hike through a natural preserve area near our house.  This area is part of DuPage Forest Preserve and is a gigantic wetland marsh area.  The trails go on for miles and miles.  So I've only studied a small portion of what this beautiful area has to offer so far.    

My goal is to return at different times of the year to capture the gifts of this natural, magical place.  

In this painting I used three transparent greens - sap green, terre verte and olive green.  To lighten the greens in the grasses and trees, I added naples yellow and white, which brings the greens back to opaque, not transparent.  That's where the paradox comes in.  In order to have the transparent glow,  the color needs to be painted straight out of the tube and not mixed with any other opaque color.  Or it needs to be mixed with another transparent color.  

I'm posting what I learn along the way.  There is a lot of studying and note taking during my current painting sessions.  And I'm painting lots of small studies.  


Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Translucent Color





Journey II
9x12
Oil on Canvas

This painting is loosely based on one of my previous paintings Journey that I painted two years ago.  I'm beginning my experiments with using translucent color and thought I would use this composition as a model.  Using translucent color is a new thing for me since it requires the building up of layers.  Each layer changes the next and I feel that there will be much experimentation with this new process.

I first became interested in using translucent color when I read a book by Albert Handell years ago when I was doing pastels.  Albert Handell is a master at painting pastels and oils.  The reason I was reading his books was to further my study in the area of pastel landscapes.  But his oils caught my attention.  They seemed to glow.  I believe it was from viewing his oil paintings that I decided to teach myself how to do oil paintings.  I've been doing oil paintings now for five years and feel I'm at the point where I want to put the time into further experimentation of this technique.  

With anything new, it takes me a while to accomplish my goals.  It seems I'm forever learning and probably will never stop.  In the meantime, I'll be posting what I learn along the way.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Painting Through

Illumination
18x24

This is a painting I did about two years ago using translucent color.  It was one of my many experiments in oil paint and I was pleased with the result.  Since then I've gone in many different directions but have always meant to explore this area more.  Well, this is the year I intend to do just that.  It just feels right.  

The only thing is ... I'm having a hard time getting inspired right now.  I know that after the holidays, the blahs can set in.  But this year life hit us a curveball.  Our dear friend, John Failla, died suddenly of a heart attack on January 3rd.  It was one of those, oh God, moments.  My husband worked closely with him for the last two years (even though they had been friends since their teen years) and his days were filled with funny stories and laughter.  I hate to be so depressing, but I really want to know what people do when life throws you a curveball.

Things like this happen to people everyday and I would love to know how it affects your art.  Do you paint through the pain?  

I've been doing some small studies using translucent color of some small landscapes and will be posting them soon.  In the meantime, I would love to know what other artists do when life throws you a curveball.